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Can someone explain to me why residents who have no problem with very noisy military jets somehow have a problem with much quieter civilian aircraft using the facility? I think using Willow Grove as a regional airport would be a great idea. It could compete with PHL, ACY, RDG ILG, and ABE. Or are locals that much against helping their local economy?
ktappe - agreed
ktappe - A10s are not noisy...infact, those flying buses (airliners) are much noisier and, with their longer approaches and departures, would be more noice pollution than you would expect. Also with Philly's NE airport already struggling, why would the state want to dilute airtraffic even more? With the economy where it is, people are not traveling like they used to.
Hundreds of full-time air national guardsman will be left without a full time job because of this. support the troop? not if it cost money apparently.
And the A10s are very quiet compared to most commercial airliners.
Get the facts straight. From the beginning, the federal government closed down this base and said we have no use for it. Rendell tried to act like if you didn't support his idea for the base, you were turning your back on the military. No, the government had already done this. Rendell just wanted to get paid and turn Horsham into a commercial airport, using a military bend as a fog screen. Also, the military planes are quiet and have strict flying curfews. Nothing is louder than a commerical airport and the air traffic would increase tenfold with no curfews. Also, Horsham is extremely populated and a commercial airport would be very dangerous - local schools are in danger zones if a plane were to crash during landing or take off, when most incidents occur. Because of this, the school district sent letters home to all families asking them to not support a civilian/commercial airport. We don't want it and thanfully, we won't get it. Now the future of the Willow Grove airbase is out of Rendell's hands, where it never belonged.
What you don't understand about the noise level is that the military aircraft fly very infrequently, while civilian aircraft - if commercial - do.
I have lived next to the base for 40 years, and think that there is limited practacality towards it being a smaller commercial airport, as far as demand is concerned.
Rendell can't find $19m over a couple of years for the base but can suddenly drum up $7m to pay off a crooked union? Go figure.
ktappe-absolutely. Good idea residents and representatives lets put more people out of work in this economy. Has anyone ever seen the size of those C-130's they're huge, oh but thats okay it military not a private sector. How stupid are these people and I don't live that far from the air base (5-6 miles). I see those planes all the time, doesn't bother me. I would like to know what came first the chicken or the egg, ie how long has that base been there and when was it established, I am willing to bet a whole hecka of lot longer than a lot of those homes in the surrounding areas. What's next, I guess all the people that bought the McMansions in Chester County will be looking to run the mushrooms farmers out of town, because of the smells.
Shut it down, have the feds auction off half of the property and donate the rest to the local township. Enough of this already....
yeah kelprod1 is right. fire the full time employees at the base who are mostly iraq/afghan vets. thats a good way to support them. why not just spit on them while you're at it?
*shakes head*
phillyfreak...if there is no need for those employees, then they should be transferred to a place where there is a need for them. If there is no need for them at all, then yes, cut them loose. It is not the role of government to be an employer, simply for the sake of providing employment. Willow Grove could be shut down tomorrow and would have zero impact on our national defense. Considering we as a people just set a new record for deficit spending in the month of October, the feds should be looking at ways to slash expenses and raise revenue....considering Willow Grove has no use whatsoever from a defense standpoint, auctioning off the property and placing the money in our national piggy bank is a wise idea.
Do I smell another potential casino site?
How about doing what New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and other world class American cities do in order to bring jobs and commerce in, make WG a 2nd Internal airport.
We could have Jet Blue, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic along with legacy airlines come in and lower the overall cost of transportation to and from the City of Brotherly Love!
The roads in the area could not handle the traffic of a full fledged commercial airport. Leaving the land for local control will leave a lot of campaign contributors, er, developers very happy.
The roads in the area could not handle the traffic of a full fledged commercial airport. Leaving the land for local control will leave a lot of campaign contributors, er, developers very happy.
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